The respect of your team members does not follow naturally from being a boss. Although it might be challenging, earning respect is necessary for being a great leader. You must be more conscious of your behaviors and how they affect your team members if you want to become someone to look up to. Here are helpful suggestions for becoming a leader that your team members will respect, whether you are a new or seasoned leader.

Communicate With Your Team

You must master effective communication techniques if you want your team to appreciate you. Open lines of communication and being accessible to your staff can help you win their respect. Leaders often avoid face-to-face interaction with their teams and mostly communicate through email. Because you can’t even find the time to have a face-to-face conversation with them, your staff will eventually believe that you don’t value their job or them as people—schedule time throughout the day to stroll about and interact with your team. Ask them questions about their job, and then give them a chance to respond. In the end, employees want to feel appreciated and heard, so learning to interact with them in ways other than email is a fantastic approach to gaining their respect.

Set a Good Precedent

Actions carry more weight than words. Establish a high standard for your team by consistently demonstrating that you are trustworthy and dependable via your work ethic. It would help if you were accessible and pleasant to your staff members, even making small talk. This serves as a helpful reminder to staff members that you are a natural person, not simply their boss. If people can connect to you as a person rather than merely someone who controls their employment, they will be more inclined to appreciate you. Try your best to get to know your workers and show a genuine interest in the people you are in charge of.

Trust and Reward Your Team

If you give your staff things to accomplish, let them know how to do it independently and try not to micromanage. Employees are always trying to grow and improve their abilities. Employees may feel you don’t trust their work if you constantly instruct them on accomplishing something, making them believe they lack the skills necessary for the job. Give your staff the freedom to do a job on their own once you have assigned it since they will find it difficult to trust a leader who doesn’t trust them. Whatever role they are performing, everyone wants to be noticed. It is simple for you as a leader to be acknowledged for the contributions made by your team, which makes them feel unappreciated and resentful. Make sure you take the time to praise and recognize your staff instead of taking all the credit and don’t remember them know how their particular work contributed to the success of a project or assignment. Let them know how much you value their unique skills and how the team benefits from having them on board. Not only will this benefit your team in the long term since your staff will be happier at work, but it is also a guaranteed method to build mutual respect and acknowledge each person and their efforts.

This article was originally published at Patch.com.